To the utter disappointment of Nami there's nothing inside the doctor's safe. There's a definite lack of money, that is. Oh, there is a lot of useless paper – some receipts, drug prescriptions, notes filled with undecipherable scribbles and even handwritten letters. Maybe these are the love letters the doctor received from his secret lover, Nami thinks, and her jealousy suddenly stirs. Well, unless somewhere among these paper products there is some kind of hard currency, she is screwed. Definitely. Where's the money she worked so hard to extract?
She curses under her breath as she skims over some documents that look somewhat promising (maybe she'll take them later with her for the purpose of blackmail). Damn, they are written in some foreign language or a code or…Yes, her mind racing in the wrong direction means only one thing - Nami's becoming desperate. Doctor Trafalgar should be so proud of himself! He deceived her, her, who is the great deceiver herself! She doesn't like it, not one bit.
Suddenly, her hand bumps into something solid.
"What's this?"
She takes the thing out and looks at it with a puzzled expression. It is a glass jar shaped like a cube and no, it's not a jewelry box you'd expect to be stored in the hidden vault. However, when Nami sees what's inside, she almost drops the cube to the floor.
"It's…"
"…a human heart, yes," doctor Trafalgar tells her with a hint of amusement in his voice. "It belonged to my dear friend. Be careful with it, please."
The Dark Doctor's voice is just too close for comfort. Nami swiftly turns around and here he is, just behind her back, grinning like a wolf, with a pair of handcuffs dangling from his finger. The proverbial smug snake, ready to pounce.
"How did you get out of …"
"…these handcuffs?" his long fingers play with metal bracelets. "Pleeese. I've been taught how to pick a simple lock when I was no more than ten. Besides, you left me a perfect tool."
He demonstrates his impromptu lock pick - the lonely earing she forgot to take off him in her haste.
"You've been careless, little thief."
"So you deceived me. There was no money in your safe."
Surgeon of Death takes a cube shaped jar from the Nami's numb fingers, puts in back to the vault and turns to her, his smile crooked and highly unpleasant:
"I did no such thing. I even told you the combination, albeit under pressure. You just assumed that if it's a hidden vault, there should be money. And here you're wrong. This safe is the place where I keep my medical research and some other…stuff. Nothing more."
"So where's your money?"
"Oh," he chuckles. "I find that the banking system of this country is absolutely reliable."
Then he leans forward, invading her personal space. Although he is naked and visibly aroused, he doesn't look bothered by that fact at all.
"You little tease," his voice becomes a whisper. "I can certainly get over the loss of my possessions, but to leave a man in such a sorry state is unforgivable. I'd want to bring to your attention that it's considered cruel and unusual punishment in no less than 50 sovereign countries."
She denies his accusations vigorously. It was not her intention! She didn't want to leave him chained to his headboard with a severe case of blue balls. Oh, Nami's voice is so convincing she even starts to believe in her own lies. However, the Surgeon of Death is not amused.
"Don't interrupt," he says. "I found the experience highly unpleasant. So I intend to get compensation from you, one way or another."
Trafalgar is serious, Nami thinks. He'd kill her or worse. For some reason, when she thinks about it, her worst case scenario includes a lot of steamy details.
No, bad girl. Don't think. Act. Get out of here. Get out of Dodge!
So she pretends to be compliant and mutters some inane excuses, and shakes her head, as if frightened out of her wits. And the last one is probably true. Yeah, let him think that she is nothing more than a weak little girl, Red Riding Hood lost in the woods and he is a big bad wolf.
Her leg unexpectedly (for him) shots out, goes impossible high, grazing Trafalgar's chin. Luffy would be so proud of her! The good doctor is thrown back and she bolts to the door.
Nami always was so proud of her agility. She hears the doctor hissing in pain behind her back and grins in triumph. She is almost out to the door. Home free!
Until the cold metal of handcuff's bracelets encircles her wrists.
"Oh my, I've caught a cat!"
She fights him like a wildcat, hissing and thrusting. Her options are limited, though. Her own hands are bound and doctor's strong arms restrain her even more effectively than handcuffs.
"It was unwise," he tells her, his voice full of vague promise. Shivers run down her spine from that voice. "You shouldn't try to leave you host without saying goodbye."
"How about you let me go?" the Cat Burglar switches her tactic. "I'll return your belongings to you, I'll disappear from your sight and I even promise to forget where you live. In the end nobody's get hurt".
The soft lips of Trafalgar touch her neck, and she shivers involuntarily.
"You'll disappear all right. And nobody will be the wiser where'd the kitty gone. You see, there's a nice fully equipped laboratory in my basement where I prefer to do some of my…work."
Nami can only imagine what kind of work the Surgeon of Death does and her whole body shudders. His reputation precedes him.
And he doesn't disappoint. He tells about his work, not omitting the gruesome details, and asks her to participate (as an object of his experiments, no doubt).
"Your voluntary cooperation will be appreciated. All for the betterment of mankind."
She tells him where can he put this proposition. In any case, there are much better ways to get compensation from her then this experimentation, dissection or organ harvesting the crazy doctor is planning! Besides, she hastily adds, his intimidation technic lacks finesse and therefore will not work. She tells him a lot of things. She is babbling. Alas, it looks like Doctor Trafalgar Law, the stubborn sonofabitch, is not impressed at all.
While Nami is talking, the nimble tattooed fingers of the Dark Doctor are petting her cheeks. Then, in one swift motion he yanks her cat mask from her head and turns her around.
"Oh, you are really a beauty, as I thought," he gives her a once-over. Her cheeks flushed, her light brown eyes smoldering from anger, her long hair wild, she is a delicious morsel he'd want to swallow in one go (or so she thinks). "It's a shame we couldn't get acquainted under better circumstances."
"Sure," she answers him, her words coated with venom. "As if a nice, easy-going girl like me would date a psycho like you, doctor Hannibal!"
"Trafalgar," he corrects her. "Hannyabal is a vice-warden of Impel Down prison, and one of your previous targets, if I'm not mistaken."
She looks at him blankly, as if wanting to say: "Are you for real or what?" He doesn't pay her attention.
"Let's not be distracted, my dear." Suddenly, something sharp and shiny appears in his hand.
"Let me introduce you to my favorite scalpel, miss burglar. I call him Mes."
Alice, this is pudding. Pudding, this is…Oh, for goodness sake, Nami thinks. The good doctor names his instruments of torture! It looks like this one is completely certifiable.
"Mes will help me to remove one last obstacle that interferes with my getting better understanding of your body," he caresses her shoulder, covered by the thin leather of her tight fitting catsuit. "For purely scientific purposes, of course."
"Oh no, you don't…"
Yes, he does.
"I'm sure you'd take it off yourself, dear, if your hands were free. Unfortunately, I can't risk and release them, I don't trust you not to run away. Again."
He finds a nearly invisible seam in her suit and makes a cut. His hand, the hand of a surgeon, is absolutely steady.
… And Luffy warned her.
As if in a dream she hears his voice:
"Don't do it, Nami."
When it comes to important stuff, the idiot-savant of the underworld is never wrong.
"It's a bad idea, Nami."
Even Zoro was concerned a little.
"What about the old Croc's villa? You wanted to strip it bare, no?"
And she laughed it off.
"Not interested anymore. This new job will be fun."
She should've listened. She should've…So why didn't she?
The thin strips of leather are falling to the ground like ribbons. Or snakes. Nami is fidgeting in nervous anticipation.
Trafalgar is slowly exposing her body, and where he is done, black color of her suit gives way to the white of her skin. She is getting goosebumps just by thinking of what's his next step going to be.
The conditioned air of doctor's bedroom is unpleasantly cool. Like in a crypt. So why does she feel so hot? Why are her cheeks flushed? Why does she feel wetness between…well, there?
Understanding hits her like a ton of bricks. Oh no, it's not right. She can't be aroused by him, who is stripping her in such an ugly way. This madman is destroying her favorite catsuit. He intends to do who knows what to her afterwards. . She just can't be aroused by all that!
When the last piece of leather is removed from her body, and she is left standing only in her boots and flimsy underwear, doctor Trafalgar is ready to openly admire his handiwork.
"You look beautiful like that, miss burglar. I think I'll make some pictures before we move to our other activities."
Pictures? It would be a catastrophe. Her anonymity was always her best weapon. But Nami is too proud to beg him. Besides, at the moment it looks like the pictures are the least of her problems.
The Dark Doctor caresses her body appreciatively. One of his hands slides beneath the frilly contours of her bra, another hooks the waistband of her panties.
"Soon," he promises her. "Soon."
Soon what, she wonders, feeling her nether regions seized by delightful heat. Soon what?
And then the phone rings.
TBC
Next chapter: the cavalry arrives or…not?